A Change of Direction
Once back to Italy I was eager to experiment the recent stimula in the Italian school context, bringing into my ordinary school work management and practices experimented in Norwich.
The first step was the project The City which was developed within a fifth-form class to discuss and problematize the controversial aspects conveyed by the different media when hinting at the idea of the city.
It was included in the class-materials as a particular product for the final exam. The project provided argumentations about the different visions and revisions of the topic given by the texts included in the school syllabus and much more. It received very positive feedback from the evaluating commission.
The image of the city came to life from literary texts and moved from films to paintings, music, advertising and documents. In addition it contributed to critical thinking through the practice of a multiplicity of studying strategies that included analytical, synthetical, interpreting, evaluating and choosing .
The students became the active players within a constructivist approach to knowledge and the real creators of a class product: a hand-made rudimental video.
Everybody was given the opportunity to contribute and share her or his best competences: from media analysis to camera filming, image and text selection, assembling, caption and text analysis writing together with producing an introduction or a possible conclusion and the like.
The students showed enthusiasm, despite the level of committment required and the necessity to keep to strict deadlines.
In drawing some possible conclusion as to the role of some key figures in the making up of my professional competences at the time, besides recalling the main role of the Aberdeen and Norwich tutors I have to mention the support received by two colleagues.
Despite teaching different subjects: Italian and Latin Language and Literature and Mathematics in the Biennio, they provided the necessary emotional and sometimes cognitive support (in the case of the Maths teacher also the one connected with the Information technolog, being my digital competences at that time still very low) I feel the need to add a further element of reflection.
Once I started action research in the field of project work, reflection mainly concerned the contribution it generally provides to learning awareness and as to the further profession direction I was taking I realized over and over again that, despite the many controversial areas, project work really fosters and reinforces students'autonomy and self-responsibility for one's choices.
A very good start for the students' future learning and professional projects!
The first step was the project The City which was developed within a fifth-form class to discuss and problematize the controversial aspects conveyed by the different media when hinting at the idea of the city.
It was included in the class-materials as a particular product for the final exam. The project provided argumentations about the different visions and revisions of the topic given by the texts included in the school syllabus and much more. It received very positive feedback from the evaluating commission.
The image of the city came to life from literary texts and moved from films to paintings, music, advertising and documents. In addition it contributed to critical thinking through the practice of a multiplicity of studying strategies that included analytical, synthetical, interpreting, evaluating and choosing .
The students became the active players within a constructivist approach to knowledge and the real creators of a class product: a hand-made rudimental video.
Everybody was given the opportunity to contribute and share her or his best competences: from media analysis to camera filming, image and text selection, assembling, caption and text analysis writing together with producing an introduction or a possible conclusion and the like.
The students showed enthusiasm, despite the level of committment required and the necessity to keep to strict deadlines.
In drawing some possible conclusion as to the role of some key figures in the making up of my professional competences at the time, besides recalling the main role of the Aberdeen and Norwich tutors I have to mention the support received by two colleagues.
Despite teaching different subjects: Italian and Latin Language and Literature and Mathematics in the Biennio, they provided the necessary emotional and sometimes cognitive support (in the case of the Maths teacher also the one connected with the Information technolog, being my digital competences at that time still very low) I feel the need to add a further element of reflection.
Once I started action research in the field of project work, reflection mainly concerned the contribution it generally provides to learning awareness and as to the further profession direction I was taking I realized over and over again that, despite the many controversial areas, project work really fosters and reinforces students'autonomy and self-responsibility for one's choices.
A very good start for the students' future learning and professional projects!